Speaking on Radio 5 Live last night, Neil Gaiman, bestselling author and friend of Herbert, said: “His first book was a bestseller, which is something that happens to very few writers. He had to do all his growing up in public. He had to learn to write in public.

“Jim’s [sales] numbers were extraordinary and he was very grumpy that nobody noticed. He’d point out that he had outsold Stephen King in the UK. He was a bestselling author which I think also meant that he felt he wasn’t getting the attention that he deserved. He wanted the things he wasn’t getting. He wanted critical acclaim and I don’t think he felt he ever got it even when some of his novels did get serious critical attention.

“He was always incredibly encouraging. When Terry Pratchett and I wrote our first novel together, Good Omens, my first novel, he gave me a blurb for it, said something about how incredibly funny and wonderful it was. A few years later, on a panel, he was recorded as saying that, long after he had given the blurb, he picked up the book and read it, and was delighted to find out that it was actually as good as the blurb he had given it, which I think shows something rather sweet about Jim. That he would have had the confidence in me, and assumed that the book would be funny and later discovered that it was. And he had the humility to tell the world.”

His friend, guitarist Gordon Giltrap, tweeted: “Received some sad news ... that my good friend James Herbert has passed away. Am in no mood for music, that’s for sure. RIP Jim.”

Jeremy Trevathan, his editor for ten years, said: “Jim Herbert was one of het keystone authors in a genre that had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. It’s a true testament to his writing and his enduring creativity that his books continued to be bestsellers right up until his death. He has the rare distinction that his novels were considered classics of the genre within his lifetime. His death marks the passing of one of the giants of popular fiction in the 20th century.”

Scottish comedian Robert Florence said: “My copy of The Fog by James Herbert was well-read and fell open at the interesting bits. Herbert was a proper horror writer. Legend.”

Fellow English horror author David Moody, writing on thisishorror.co.uk, said: “Though I only met James on two occasions, I felt a close connection having grown up with his books. I clearly remember when his first few novels were released: suddenly all my friends had these fantastic sounding, distinctive looking novels in their homes and I knew I had to read them ... The Rats, The Fog, The Survivor ... the list goes on. He dragged our much maligned genre kicking and screaming into the mainstream, and I for one and hugely grateful he did.”